Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and Mushishi.

When the Wonderers Meet

It was a strange sight even for the wondering mushi-shi Ginko. In the midst of swirling wind, a woman stood, her loose sleeves of black haori fluttering wildly along with her charcoal black hair that flowed so gracefully. And under the dancing figures of countless mushi, she stood, smiling.

"Are you human?"

He could not help himself but to ask, his turquoise right eye never leaving the mesmerizing scene. She didn't seem surprised at all as she slowly turned herself towards him completely, and Ginko took in a sharp breath as her grayish blue eyes revealed itself below her thick lashes.

"How pretty."

"P-pretty?"

Taken back by her response, Ginko soon realized she was referring to his unnatural eye color. All different kinds of mushi continued to swirl around her, some even lingering on her shoulder and flocking around her hand. And yet she was still at peace, undisturbed by the absurd number of the life forms surrounding her.

"You are a mushi-shi."

"That's right.

"Ah, could it be you're the famous Ginko-san?"

Her calm voice suddenly came out in an outburst, and at her sudden excitement the mushi that clustered around her dissipated, leaving only the two left in the woods. Ginko took a step back as the woman took a step forward, and if he wasn't mistaken…were her eyes actually shining in excitement?

"I heard a lot about you! It was funny when the mountain lord let you in its mountain just to get your kouki! Ah! And also when you met the young boy with god-like left hand! It's such a pleasure to meet you in person!"

She suddenly reached and grabbed his hand, wildly shaking it up and down. Ginko blushed at the contact with her soft hands. It was warm and tender, but he could also feel the calluses formed on her fingers. Ginko calmly detached his hands from hers and took a puff of the cigarette.

"I guess I didn't know I was that famous. How do you know me?"

"Well, the mushi told me."

A sly smile crept up on her lips, and Ginko blinked at her wild answer. Mushi told her? Was such thing, communicating with mushi, even possible? As if understanding his bewilderment, the woman simply shook her head slightly and flashed him a teasing smile.

"Intriguing isn't it? Just like that lady who has a mushi sealed in her leg."

"Just…what are you?"

It was only then the woman realized she had been going on and on without introducing herself. A dusty pink colored her white skin as she stretched out her hand as if for a handshake. Ginko took it more hesitantly this time, still unsure how she even managed to figure out about Tanyuu.

"I'm Higurashi Kagome. A human! Nice to finally meet you, Ginko-san!"

Higurashi Kagome, a human. An enigma.

That was Ginko's first impression of Higurashi Kagome.

Higurashi Kagome had wondered throughout the lands since the Feudal Era. Blessed, or should she say cursed, with long, long life, she was now at least few hundred years old. Age became meaningless around the time demons started to disappear one by one, and tiny life forms called mushi took over the land in place of the missing demons.

It didn't take too much effort to know what mushi were. Their existence, the flowing kouki, it felt as though she had known about the world of mushi for her entire life. It was only recently, however, that she learned she could read the time of mushi—from its birth to its end, she could read it all.

Since some time ago, Kagome frequently saw a white haired human in many mushi's time. Through reading their times, Kagome watched as he grew up from a young boy to a fine mushi-shi, and all of his travels. She laughed and cried together with him, blushed and peeped through her fingers when he decided to take an occasional shower. It made her feel like she was a horrible stalker, but she couldn't stop. There was just something about him that made her keep searching for him in countless mushi's time.

"I wonder what Ginko's like in person…"

It was a rhetorical question; she knew all too well what kind of person he was. Under that serious face, he had quite the easygoing, laid back personality that kind of reminded her of the priest Miroku. Not that Ginko was a pervert, but she could see the resemblance between the priest and the mushishi. She chuckled while imagining Ginko with the perverted monk's personality, and wondered if he would also ask her to bear his children if she were to meet him.

"I wonder what it would be like to travel with him…"

She mumbled another question as she wiggled her toes in the cool stream, watching the mushi under water wiggling its tiny tentacle. She giggled as some other mushi gathered around her feet, their wiggling bodies tickling her. She closed her eyes as the their time rushed into her and unfolded itself behind her second eyelid.

'Ah, it's Ginko again.'

He was walking up the mountain, smoking a tobacco as always while shooing away the mushi gathering around him. She giggled as a small one snuck into his white hair, making Ginko desperately ruffle his own hair to get it out. In the blurry background she saw a red maple tree that looked familiar to her for some reason.

"Eh, was that the maple tree that I just saw few hours ago?"

She mumbled to herself as she tried to continue reading through the mushi's time when all of sudden it ended. Her eyes snapped open at the severed connection and looked down in the stream to see the mushi she was reading had left her. It didn't matter, though. She had seen enough to realize that Ginko was in fact in the same mountain as her, just a couple of hours away.

"This is so great! So, so great!"

Her eyes sparkled as she stood up with her arms stretched above her head, squealing and laughing in excitement. It must have been fate for the gods to have him enter the same mountain as her. Perhaps they had a special plan for the two of them?

"I need to leave an impression on him so that he'll remember me!"

And Kagome knew exactly what would interest him. All she needed was few drops of kouki and dramatic display effects.

"Oh, I will get your attention alright."

Kagome smirked devilishly, her eyes shining with uncontrolled enthusiasm.

And that, is the behind story to how Higurashi Kagome and Ginko had such an impressive coincidental meeting.

Something I wrote a while ago.

Anyone fan of Mushishi?